Over three weeks ago, when school was still in session, Coban got off the bus on a Friday wearing black shorts, a red hoodie, and the fuzzy Santa socks I bought him this year for Christmas. “I was feeling festive this morning,” he said. “Because one way to survive the Coronavirus is by having fun!”

Since then, he’s had three weeks of doing school from home. We aren’t really seeing people much, except occasionally outside, at a distance. Even this resilient, good-natured child is starting to feel the pain. He got quiet last night while we were making dinner, and I looked over and saw a big tear sliding down his cheek. Sundays are not our favorite day anyway, but they feel even harder right now.

He decided we needed to take another photo walk. I let him pick the color the last two times, but I suggested pink last night because it’s everywhere right now.

I got out a notepad and gave him a quick lesson in negative space and composition before we left. The thing is, he doesn’t really care much about the photos at this point. He was happy when I sent him one of his own shots to use as a background on his Chromebook after the first time we went, but he hasn’t looked at any of his photos again since then.

It’s really just being out there doing something that is helping him (and me) right now. What’s working for us with this particular project is that there are parameters. We have a specific goal in mind, and we can do it again next time but slightly differently. New day, new color.

We’ll run out of colors eventually of course. But I’m hoping it’s the kind of creative kickstart that leads to new and different things.

Even if it doesn’t, we both felt a lot better when we returned home last night. With the brevity of a nine-year old boy, he said, “I don’t feel stuck anymore.”